Studi-O Cahaya is a house + gallery . In Indonesian language, it could have a double meaning due to the way of word studio is hyphenated : Studio of Light and the Study of Light.

Challenging another possibility of creating tropical urban living space Is there another perpectives to look at tropical abundant light? Creating shades so the eyes are not too glared and the body not too heated are the issues to be handled. Considering the function and the site situation, light is the main object to be observed. Opening orientation is limited from the front façade and the rooftop since it was located in a dense environment (in the future).

I studied how the sun moves in a location that exists on the latitude of 06°11’05” S and longitude of 106°44’22”E. I began reading beauty in different forms when the data is translated into diagrams. The numbers and diagrams seemed to turn into a poem that comes in the prose of rationality. I was amazed at how sense/feel which occurs with the change in the light of the sky could materialize in numbers, line diagrams - a rational work.

What I learn so far is: within each brilliance its shadow is embedded. Basically it is a study of creating void by the light that crafted the needed volume - a void that generate space to live in and creates harmony of brilliance and shadow, the air flows and the heat. Through a series of light study models, a scheme that allowed 2/3 morning light and 1/3 afternoon light was chosen for the reason of heat releasing in the evening.

Fitting the functional space to the shaded space - Form follows light, function follows shadow Different from the approach that started with function and programming, it is started from the volume that crafted by light. While the form is created, the functions occupying shaded space likely the first human settled the caves. At the void, slanting walls that follows the angle of 11 and 13 o’clock has managed the hottest ray at noon come indirectly. Direct sunlight always passes in a short time in a particular surface and did not create too much heat.

Actually, the created shaded space can be utilized for any purpose. In this case, the ground is fit for public and service purposes while private activities occupy the upper level. The gallery would be in the top floor which accessed directly from the ground level without interupting private area. The roof top is utilized as another public area with the plants placed over the skylight to reduce the strong sunlight.

A Second Nature - A Living Space When the light moves, the cycle of morning, noon and afternoon would always be captured in all parts of the building – making the spaces like a sun dial. Time is space, space is time – this dwelling space is only part of nature or universe that is always moving within its apparent stillness.

Here, we can see all of the movements in nature, the wind blow in the moving shadows of the plants, the rain over the glass of skylight, reflection of light through water cooling feature in the ground, the changing of light from morning to evening. Nature is celebrated, interior becoming exterior again. The music of the nature is played.